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DSH Perfumes Pandora EDP Perfume Review

DSH Perfumes Pandora is amazing. And it’s so good, that I’m the evil one, not Pandora. I don’t want to share it with you. I want this to be my perfume. This has been one of my favorite perfumes of the past 5 years. Pandora is so familiar but not. It’s an old-fashioned chypre with a pitch black helmet-like bob and pencil thin brows. This is Lulu in Die Büchse der Pandora. This is a hedonistic chypre that is going to steal a few boyfriends and a few girlfriends. It’s a dichotomy of naïveté and maturity based on the concept of ancient and modern. It’s a bewitching blend with accords of Gloria Swanson, Louise Brooks, Alla Nazimova and Jean Acker.

Pandora opens with a sparkle, almost an immoral glimmer in her eyes. There’s some darkness to this shine. She knows she has your attention but she won’t be responsible for your fate. It’s energetic with spicy anise and a rainbow of peppercorns. The citrus even have a spicy edge and it mixes with green, crushed herbs that remind me of chervil . What’s so difficult to explain about Pandora is that I get this leatheriness. It reminds me of dried, leathery fruits, apricots, in particular, and the softest suede – all in one. It’s that Mousse de Sax accord first used by the house of Caron in the 1920’s. I can’t get my nose off of my wrist. It’s beauty. It’s so familiar but unlike anything that you can purchase these days (without bidding and taking a gamble on ebay). It’s darker and deeper than any modern perfume you can think of. Read this as vampy. The leather gets more prominent, less suede-like and more like a perfectly worn leather glove. There’s a rich, hexing orris that is dry, earthy, dark and this meshes with a camphoric patchouli. The dry-down is this creamy vanilla and coumarin with this intense, spellminding moss and velvety amber. Being that moss isn’t what it used to be in perfumes, Pandora has a wonderful vintage feel. And this “vintage” feel is intensified by the tonka bean. It’s astounding. But, it still manages to be modern; you haven’t sniffed this yet.

If you love vintage perfumes, I can’t push this one to you enough. It reminds me of classic Coty, Caron and Guerlain. Except it’s more wearable. You can buy it now, use it liberally, indulge, be hedonistic! The lasting power is wonderful, lasting longer than all of the silent films in the world put together. It wears closely but it leaves an intoxicating haze. This is one that a lover will smell on a scarf long after the seduction and coveting your love.

Pandora excites me. Like I said, one of the best perfumes or the most “me” perfume that I have smelled in years. My devilish thoughts pass and I am willing to share Pandora with you. Pandora excites me in the way that finding out that the lost Metropolis footage has been found, restored and that I will finally get to see it all. It makes my life feel complete. Pandora is like that, it’s like finding a buried treasure of a perfume. A perfume that has been found and restored. And now it can be mine to enjoy. As you can see, I have a lust for Pandora.

Pandora comes in a few sizes with prices ranging from $25-$220. This nouveau-vintage perfume, dare I say, masterpiece is available at DSH Perfumes.

Dawn is generously giving one lucky reader of EauMG a 3ml spray of Pandora! Here’s what you need to do to be entered in this fragrance freebie draw:

Leave a comment telling me who is your favorite Old Hollywood actor/actress. The vampier the better 😉 You won’t get extra entries, but, hey, you’ll get cool points!

You’ll get 2 entries if you are a fan of EauMG on Facebook. Please tell me in the comment section if you are a fan.

***On Friday, 9/16, at 8:00 p.m. PST, I will use random.org to select a winner of this draw. Good luck and thank you for reading and commenting! This draw is open to people all over the globe!*** DRAWING IS CLOSED. WINNER HAS BEEN CHOSEN & NOTIFIED

*Disclaimer – Sample was provided by DSH Perfumes. I am not financially compensated for this review or any others. My opinions are my own. Louise Brooks and Gloria Swanson pic from www.fanpix.net

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71 thoughts on “DSH Perfumes Pandora EDP Perfume Review”

Please enter me in the draw. My favouurite old Hollywood actress is Marlene Dietrich.
Not so much the vamp, but sexy as all get out. That photograph of Louise Brooks puts me very much in mind of Selma Blair.

V, I am so glad you mentioned the leatheriness of Pandora, I totally agree! For me, it was a more “animalic” leather, probably from the ambergris because I know Dawn didn’t use any leather notes per se. But it’s present for sure, one of those ghost leather accords possibly 😀

It is leathery. And that’s what “shocked” me. Where was it coming from? Well, a melange of things! I love ambergris, probably so much that I don’t even notice its filth anymore. I think that’s where the “suede” comes from.

I really think you’ll like it. I was going to rave about it to you earlier, but, you know, I’m being selfish with it. This is the perfume for me, someone that wants to smell vintage but fears buying vintage.

Oh, I was hoping you’d say Joan Crawford so we could Mommy Dearest joke, but whatever. Audrey Hepburn is sooo not vampy 😉

I love Barbara Stanwyck. Her older movies were the best. She was vampy and funny and witty, especially in Ball of Fire, with Gary Cooper, she made that whole movie!!!! I love Miss Dior, so if Pandora is at all like that I will love it. Please enter me in the Draw. Thank you.

I love vintage inspired perfumes, and I’m so excited to try this one from DSH, even if I don’t win it! I like hearing that it’s more wearable, as some vintage perfumes are too heavy for me. My favorite old Hollywood actress is Judy Garland. I used to love her when I was growing up. Thanks for the giveaway!Lisa A recently posted..Me and CVS are Officially BFFs

This one is “heavy” but not work to wear. I hope that makes sense 🙂 But, what I’m saying is that it has a vintage thickness but it doesn’t wear you! I love vintage perfumes too but often feel “out of character” while wearing them.

Oh my goodness, V… WOW! I am floored at your response to Pandora and THRILLED beyond belief! One of the most ‘YOU’ perfumes in years… I couldn’t be happier about that! Thank you so much for the amazing review and the wonderful references to classic film (of which I am a full tilt junkie). I’ll just go ahead and say, I’m a HUGE Garbo fan…but so many others as well. oxoxo

You are all making me want this. Especially your review. Well, my favourite old movies actresses are Lauren Bacall and Katherine Hepburn. Kate’s not very vampy, but Bacall, in To Have and Have Not was total vamp.kjanicki recently posted..Nasomatto – Black Afgano

You can’t get your nose off your wrist… and I can’t take my eyes off that list of scent elements. Uber-yum. I’d love to be included in the draw. My favorite film goddess is no vamp, but I can’t help it…. Fanny Brice just SENDS me. When she wasn’t dressed down as Baby Snooks, she was a top-shelf fashionista! 🙂

Now, when you admitted you didn’t want to share I want to try it even more!
I’m not a fan of old Holliwood (and, for that matter, any old) movies so I couldn’t come up with any name other than Audrey Hepburn. But I can offer a name of the Soviet actress from the past who, in my opinion, was very beautiful (and a good actress as well) – Elina Bystritskaya (http://treasury.tripod.com/Images/Old_faces/Elina3.jpg ).Undina recently posted..In the Search for the Perfect Pear

I would really like to try this one. Thanks for the chance to enter the draw. I’m kinda sorta into horror films so my favorite actor would be Vincent Price. Actress? Lauren Bacall by far. I’m already a fan on FB. 😀